The Ones: Chris Crack’s “Lil Mama, Baby Mama, Sugar Mama”

With artists releasing songs at a fast and furious pace it’s difficult for the average hip-hop head to keep track of it all—no matter how tapped in they are. That’s why we created The Ones, a daily post to highlight the song you need to hear curated by the Levels team. We sort through all the new songs—across all the platforms and subgenres—so you don’t have to. Thank us later.

Chris Crack - “Lil Mama, Baby Mama, Sugar Mama”

Being Woke Ain’t Fun. Earlier this year Chicago’s Chris Crack gave us his credo when he dropped a project with that title. Now as the year winds down, he’s returned with a new project and lines like, “Don’t take offense to nothing I say, bitch. That’s my favorite word,” on the song “Lil Mama, Baby Mama, Sugar Mama” that are still living up to that principle. His latest album, Just Gimme a Minute, packs all of his humor, cleverness, and stream-of-consciousness storytelling into punchy, approximately one-minute songs.

On “Lil Mama, Baby Mama, Sugar Mama,” Chris Crack goes through a wide range of emotions in only 68 seconds. When the smooth beat begins Chris is excited and en route to see a girl he’s involved with: “I was on my way, and she said she was waiting, told her get naked.” But by the end of the track that eagerness disappears as he says, “I wanna stay but gotta get home to my problems/I been yawnin’, since 12:30 and my girl gon’ be worried/And I don’t love her, I don’t know why I’m doing this.” Which is followed by a soothing vocal sample belting “I don’t wanna fall in love” to reflect this change of heart. It’s a rollercoaster of emotions but throughout Chris Crack always keeps the laughs intact: “I’ma troll till they fold blankets.”